|
Domestic cats originated in the Middle East
mongabay.com
June 28, 2007 [corrected & updated]
A new study traces the domestication of house cats to the emergence of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent some 10,000 years ago--not Egypt as previously presumed.
Writing in Science, a team of researchers led by Carlos Driscoll of the National Cancer Institute report that house cats are descendants of the Near Eastern wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica, which has been domesticated from at least five maternal lineages in Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East.
|
"Jack" and "Ace" (below). While all housecats are closely related genetically, there is wide variation in coat color and other physical characteristics.
|
The scientists sampled genetic material from 979 domestic cats and compared it with DNA sequences from five wild cat subspecies--the European wildcat, the Near Eastern wildcat, the Central Asian wildcat, the southern African wildcat, and the Chinese desert cat. They found that each of the subspecies, as well as domestic cats, fell into a group, or "clade," that was genetically distinct, but that house cats appear most closely related to wildcats from the Middle East. The authors estimate that domestic cats arose from Middle Eastern wildcats more than 10,000 years ago--earlier than previously thought. The authors believe early farmers in this region were probably the first to domesticate wild cats, which were then brought as pets to other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
|
"Ace."
|
According to the researchers, cats were probably domesticated once humans settled into villages and began farming. Stored grain would have attracted mice which, in turn, would have attracted cats. Villagers may have kept cats around as a way to control mice populations.
C.A. Driscoll, M. Menotti-Raymond, A.L. Roca, W.E. Johnson and S.J. O'Brien (2007). The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication. Science. 29 June 2007.
Comments?
News options
News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo!
Advertisements:
Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing
| |
|
MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
CONTENTS
POPULAR PAGES
T-SHIRTS
Madagascar Wildlife
Dancing lemurs
Don't fall asleep the sloths will eat you
Sucking on this frog may make you insane
CALENDARS
Mount Kenya
East Africa Safari Wildlife
Kenya's Turkana People
Peru
African Wildlife
Alaska
China
Madagascar Chameleons
CANVAS BAGS
Hallucinogenic frog bag
Madagascar wildlife bag
|
|
